Indian captain Rohit Sharma (R) and Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the selection committee, address a press conference in Mumbai | AFP
The big talking point and discussion prior to the announcement of the Indian squad for the three ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy next month was the availability of pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and that question was answered with his selection in the team.
Although, Bumrah is not a hundred percent fit at the moment, he is expected to recover midway through the England ODIs and hopefully be fully ready come the Champions Trophy.
The return of Mohammad Shami bodes well for India with him able to deliver the goods and support Bumrah from the other end. The Bengal pacer last played for India in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 and would be itching to get back into the groove.
Mohammad Siraj missed out with the selectors and captain opting for three seamers who can provide the much needed balance with the new ball, in the middle overs and at the back end as well.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma felt the pace attack has the requisite experience now.
“Experience, it’s only Siraj who’s not there. But that’s purely because we thought of it. We’re not sure about Bumrah, whether he’s going to play or not. We wanted to pick a squad where we have options of both, somebody to bowl with the new ball and somebody to bowl at the back end,” stated Rohit.
“Obviously, with Bumrah missing, we’re not sure. We wanted Arshdeep to come and play that role of bowling at the back end and Shami, obviously we saw what he did with the new ball (in the World Cup 2023 and during the recent domestic matches),” he added.
Rohit felt Arshdeep had the ability in him to handle the pressure of crunch games while calling Shami a stalwart.
“Arshdeep hasn’t played a lot of ODIs but he’s been around the white-ball circuit for a long time. I don’t feel so uncomfortable saying that he’s not experienced. He has bowled some tough overs in white-ball cricket. I definitely think he can handle that pressure and Shami is a stalwart of white-ball cricket and what he did recently in the (ODI) World Cup was superb to watch,”
In the batting department, the return of Mumbai batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been in excellent form in T20I and Test cricket lately especially in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was on expected lines.
“Sometimes, I know it’s very hard to ignore numbers but look at Jaiswal. We picked Jaiswal based on clearly what he’s shown in the last 6-8 months. He’s not played a single ODI but we still picked him because of the potential that he’s got,” he said.
One of the notable points was Karun Nair missing out despite performing brilliantly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a staggering average of 752 as there was no place to accomodate him.
“Some players will miss out and it’s very, very unlucky and unfortunate. But again, if you talk about everyone you can’t please everyone. At the end of the day you try and make the best team and best possible squad to win games under different situations and I feel with these guys you can have that,” Rohit explained.
Shubman Gill will serve as the vice-captain under skipper Rohit Sharma.
